


EVERY DAY IS A START OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

by BandWurks, orphan_account



Category: Shinedown (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friend Snuggles, Gen, sneezes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 01:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10911177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BandWurks/pseuds/BandWurks, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Eric has a rough day ahead and has to get through, and Barry helps him through it to realize he's amazing. Fluffy one-shot based on an amazing piece of art by Bored Entertainment (@boredentertainm on twitter). Title from the song All We Are by Matt Nathanson.





	EVERY DAY IS A START OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

Every day, he had to do better.

Better for the fans, better for his bandmates, better for everyone.

Better than he had the day before. Better than he ever had before.

Today, however, Eric’s goal of doing better was not going so well. Today, he wanted so badly to do better than the night before, but today, well… He felt like shit.

He was starting to catch a cold, and his mind was fuzzy. His anxiety was high, and they had a lot of things to do today that were often nerve-wracking. Interviews, signings, playing a show, and even just getting through the day on one like this. It was cold, and this was a festival show, so this show wouldn’t have a meet and greet, just a signing, but he also had to do like three interviews with different outlets, one of them completely alone. And, as far as the forecast said, it was going to be cold tonight, very cold, and they hadn’t brought warmer clothing on this tour because this was the only outdoor stop and they hadn’t expected it to be so cold. So, while everyone else would already be shivering in the wind, he would be even colder now that he was getting sick, too.

It was 7 in the morning and their tour bus pulled into where the buses for this festival were supposed to be, and Eric was already awake and sitting up while the others still slept, having awoken hours earlier with cold sweats and constant sneezing. His phone was in his hand, and he was playing Candy Crush to try to distract himself, but with his thoughts fuzzy from a cold and exhaustion, he couldn’t focus properly. It was frustrating, and he was exhausted, but he had to get through the day, had to do it all, couldn’t disappoint the fans-

He sneezed loudly as the bus lurched thanks to some idiot walking too close in front of them and as the others began to stir, Eric could only cuddle into the blanket around him that just didn’t seem warm enough. He shivered a bit as he heard Barry continue to stir, Zach and Brent falling right back asleep, considering they didn’t have to get off the bus for another two hours or so.

As he heard Barry groan a little while he stretched, Eric sneezed again, whimpering in the hopes that he wasn’t the one to wake them. After a few moments, he heard footsteps as Barry wandered over to his bunk, a frown on the younger man’s face.

“Eric, are you okay?” Eric kind of curled away as Barry moved to sit beside him.

“Don’t… Don’t want to get you sick, too…” Eric’s words were whispered and he just felt Barry pull him close.

“Come here… How long have you been awake?” Eric glanced at his phone to provide the answer as he felt Barry’s hand upon his forehead.

“’Bout four hours,” Eric murmured weakly, tiredly. 

“Well… You’ve got a fever, we should get that blanket off of you-“

“No! ‘M cold, Barry, don’t…”

“Eric…” Eric looked up at Barry to see the pity in his eyes.

“Don’t! Don’t fucking pity me, I’m a grown ass man and I have responsibilities and a cold and insomnia and anxiety and other shit doesn’t stop them from having to get done and I don’t need your pity!”

“Shh…” Barry murmured as Brent and Zach began to stir, and Eric felt another pang of guilt. 

“I have to do things, no matter how shitty I feel, I have to do better, be better, beat myself every time, I have to…” Eric’s words tapered off as he collapsed exhaustedly against Barry’s chest, grateful that his best friend was sitting beside him even if he didn’t want to get Barry sick.

“Shh… It’s okay Eric, you have done better, you do better every night just by getting out there and putting on a show that the fans love… Now what else are you worried about having to get done?”

“You know I have a ton of interviews and shit today? One with all of you, one with Zach, and one alone? I hate doing interviews alone, everyone is always staring at me… And then we have the signing, and a show, and it’s gonna be freezing and I’m already cold and I still have to stay awake all day to do all this, and I somehow have to not be sick but I’ve already fucked that up-“

“Stop it right there, Eric… You have not fucked anything up. Any one of us could have gotten sick, it just happened to be you. And now, we have to focus on you resting, and getting better. As for interviews, we can always decline, or I could ask to do that one with you… If we have to, we can send someone out to get you something warmer to wear, as long as we get your fever to break first… The signing has a time limit and it’ll go fast and Zach and I will be sitting right next to you… As for the show, you’re going to kill it. In a good way. You always do.”

Eric felt Barry hug him tighter, closer, and he couldn’t help but whimper. “Every show we play… I’m standing right next to myself from the show before, I have to beat him, have to do better than he did…”

“Oh, Eric… You know something? You are absolutely amazing, with every show you play… You’re the most talented one of us in this band, and you can do anything you set your mind to… Every night, you beat the show before… You can’t keep focusing on that."

“I have to, Barry, or else they’ll hate me, and they’ll hate us all because of me…” Eric’s words were mumbled, groggy, as he curled into Barry. “You’re warm…”

He watched Barry frown. “And you have a fever, still, and that’s worrying… I’m going to stand up in a second, get you some ice water, and as soon as you drink the whole thing, I’ll cuddle with you…”

“Nooooo….” Eric whimpered out. “Dun leave me…”

“I gotta at least get you hydrated, Eric, so this doesn’t get worse…” Eric felt Barry stand and he whimpered, pulling the blanket tighter around him as he began to shiver once more.

Soon enough, Barry returned with a cup of ice water, and he held it out to Eric. Eric hesitantly reached out, taking the water and taking a sip, then chugging it quickly as he realized how thirsty it was and how nice it felt to have cold water. As he drained the glass, he took a deep breath, then looked at Barry. 

“Better?” Eric nodded. “More?” Eric nodded once more, as Barry took the glass and moved to refill it for Eric, who drained it at about half the speed this time, then set the glass aside. And then Barry was sitting beside Eric again, keeping his promise, and Eric leaned against Barry once more.

“M tired…” He murmured, reaching to plug his phone in before he was curled up against his best friend.

“Well… You should sleep, Eric, you’ve been up a while… When’s your first interview?”

“It’s me ‘n Zach… ‘S at 2… Then all of us at 2:30, then mine at 3… Then the signing at 4, show at 8…” Eric rattled off their schedule from memory.

“Well, that’s plenty of time for you to get some sleep in, Eric… I’ll stay right here, I promise…” 

Eric heard no more words as he was pulled to lay down with Barry and he nodded off.

Eventually, Eric was awoken by Barry gently petting his hair, and he sneezed slightly. “Come on, Eric, it’s 1… You need to get up and get ready for you and Zach’s interview…”

“Dun wanna,” Eric groaned as he curled up tighter, feeling Barry continue to pet his hair.

“I know, Eric, I know… But you have to, you can do this…”

Eric’s eyes opened tiredly and he looked at Barry. “Okay…” He pulled away tiredly, sitting up as he saw Barry smile a little.

“Your fever broke… Now go take a shower, I got one of the guys to run out and get you a warmer sweatshirt and some warmer jeans, they’ll be ready for you as soon as you get out.”

Eric yawned and nodded softly before stretching a little. “Find my sunglasses?” 

“Of course. Now go.”

Eric sighed softly as he moved to stand, still feeling weak, but nowhere as bad as earlier. He moved to go take a shower as he was told, and when he came out, he found clothes folded nicely for him, the jeans, the sweatshirt, a comfy tee that he loved, and some underwear and warmer socks and his shoes, with his sunglasses sitting on top. He smiled gratefully, dressing himself before returning to Barry, who was now standing, and hugging him.

“Thanks, Barry…”

“Of course, Eric. Now… You should go, you only have a few minutes.” Barry handed Eric his phone and moved toward the shower himself.  
Eric nodded and made his way off the bus, to the tent he and Zach were supposed to be interviewed at, sunglasses covering tired, anxious eyes. That interview went well, as did the subsequent full-band interview, and then finally, his own interview, where Barry sat off to the side, just there in case Eric needed him.

After that, they had a while till the signing, which went quickly as Barry said it would, and then they had some time to relax before the show. As it started to get colder, Eric sat in Barry’s lap, cuddling close and resting his head on Barry’s chest, still sniffling a bit but not sneezing anywhere near as badly as he had earlier that morning.

Then, finally, they were onstage, and beside him, in his line of sight, materialized a version of himself from the night before, and Eric smiled softly. He would always be better than he used to be, he knew he would, if he could get through this. And so finally, after a moment, he decided to accept himself, his former self, and, in a gesture of love towards getting better each night, found himself locked into a short guitar battle with his own abilities.

At the end of the inner battle, Eric smiled and nodded to himself, knowing the audience would never truly know, and he glanced up at Barry, who shot him a quick grin, as Eric finished out the show side by side with his friends and his own ability and soul, head clear, voice strong, and finally feeling okay.

He was getting better all the time.


End file.
